CLEVELAND, Ohio — There’s good news and bad news for the Browns receiving corps.
The good news? Jerry Jeudy is positioned to be Cleveland’s WR1, showing promise during 2024 after the trading of Amari Cooper.
The bad news? There’s no telling who’ll step up as WR2 and beyond, but there are options.
If Cleveland had drafted a wide receiver in April, that would’ve been the sixth consecutive year it had done so.
Instead, the Browns picked up Diontae Johnson, and will promote some recent draftees such as Cedric Tillman and Jamari Thrash.
Aside from Jeudy, there’s really no hierarchy. Whoever’s hungrier and willing to step up will see an increase in reps and targets.
It’ll just come with a duty to help increase Cleveland’s performance in certain areas, analytically speaking.
We’ll analyze how the Browns’ wide receiver room has changed from last season to now, using data to evaluate both returning players and newcomers.
This data series will cover the strengths and flaws of each Browns position group.
Today, we dive into the wide receivers.
Below, we analyze data from both the 2024 NFL season and the college season to evaluate the Browns’ wide receiver room.
Jerry Jeudy
The 26-year old took advantage of the opportunity to prove he could be Cleveland’s WR1 of the future.
He earned his first Pro Bowl nod after finishing 14th in receptions (90) and sixth in receiving yards (1,229), along with four touchdowns.
All while not creating much yards of separation, 2.8 to be exact, which ranked in the middle of the pack, per Next Gen Stats.
It took a while to display his play, due to Deshaun Watson’s inability to get rid of the ball quickly. Once Jameis Winston took over after Watson’s Achilles tear in Week 7, Jeudy had a quarterback who didn’t second guess.
By each game, you could see Jeudy’s fit in the offense, especially his ability to be a deep-ball threat.
But the one area that would help Jeudy further rise is improving on contested catches.
Contested catch percentage
Despite being a good deep threat, an efficient rate of contested catches (CTC) hasn’t been a strong suit of Jeudy.
In 2024, Jeudy only caught eight of his 21 contested targets (CTT), translating to a contested catch percentage (CTC%) of 38.1%, per Pro Football Focus.
This isn’t a new phenomenon, and goes back to his four seasons in Denver.
His 2020 rookie season, Jeudy recorded a 41.7 CTC%, 10 of 24. Among qualifying rookie wideouts, his CTC% was third best, behind Laviska Shenault Jr. (72.2%) and Justin Jefferson (54.5%).
The next three years, he caught 8 of 30, 27.9%.
Comparing and contrasting sometimes helps make things clear.
Let’s compare Jeudy’s regular season CTC% to fellow wideouts in the AFC North in 2024.
CTC% of AFC North WRs'
The totals of contested catch percentages for wide receivers in the AFC North in 2024.Cleveland.com
The last row on the far right displays the rankings of CTC% for wide receivers in the AFC North.
Jeudy was one of three AFC North wide receivers with over 1,000 yards, and one of four with 20 or more CTTs. Yet, he finished 10th in CTC% (38.1%). Despite ranking fourth in CTTs (21), he couldn’t grab enough while tightly covered.
Tillman had the best CTC% (71.4%).
Up and comers
There are enough targets for everyone, it’s just a matter of who’ll take advantage of them.
There’s Tillman, who showed progress in 2024 before an eventual season-ending concussion suffered in Week 12.
Johnson’s production has decreased since his Pro Bowl season in 2021, and he spent 2024 with three different teams. He’ll look to bounce back.
There are guys who have a lot to prove, such as Jamari Thrash entering his second year, David Bell coming off a hip injury, and Michael Woods II, who is a season removed from an Achilles tear.
But if there’s one thing they all could take from Jeudy to be effective in 2025, it’s his ability to be a deep-ball threat.
Deep target efficiency
Browns receivers were targeted 43 times on passes going 20 or more yards downfield. They caught 12 of them and recorded six touchdowns.
Jeudy caught 7 of 20, and had three touchdowns. Tillman caught 3 of 10, with two scores, while Elijah Moore caught 2 of 13 with one touchdown.
Cleveland’s quarterback room features a couple guys who don’t mind flinging it deep.
Joe Flacco threw 34 deep passes through eight games in 2024, while Shedeur Sanders threw 68 deep passes in college.
If these young guys want to make themselves useful, showing they can be a threat deep downfield is one way to do so.
Conclusion
If Jeudy can sustain his play, he’ll stay the face of this position group.
As for the rest, it’s open season on their roster spots. Whoever wants it more will be rewarded with targets.
This will make for an interesting training camp.
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